Plaza Ingeniero Manuel Becerra

On November 18, after two days at sea, we docked at Las Palmas, the capital of Grand Canary Island. Grand Canary is Spanish territory and the influence is everywhere, from the buildings, to the language and, of course the food. It is the 5th largest urban area in Spain with a population exceeding 700,000 and is purported to have the best climate in the world. Christopher Columbus spent a little time chillaxing here in 1492, the year he discovered America and proved his, "The world, she's a rounda" theory.

We had about six hours ashore, so we took our time and strolled the 5.6 kilometers into the old part of the city, admiring the architecture and the cathedral. This one was built between 1500 and 1570, but I once again refused to pay for admission and save my €10.00. I can look at the photos of the inside online. It's a matter of principal.

The historic center was fairly small and we were able to see most of it in pretty short order, so we again slowly made our way back to the ship and awaited our 7:00 PM sailing time.

I made the mistake of wearing my Xero sandals today. They're very minimalist and are nothing more than a thin layer of rubber held onto my feet by nylon straps. Usually I'm OK to walk long distances in them, but the streets and sidewalks here are all paved with uneven ceramic mosaic tiles. I could feel every one of them through my soles. By the time I got back to the ship, my dogs were screaming at me and I couldn't wait to put them up.

All in all, I'm glad we stopped here today. I'd always been curious about the Canary Islands, but traveling here from Canada is not too high on most people's radar. It's very pretty, but as with most island nations, fairly expensive. The only thing priced lower than in mainland Spain were the plantanas de Canarias, pint sized bananas that sold for around €2.00/kg in Seville but could be had for as little as €0.50 here.

Despite having the best climate in the world, Las Palmas was a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.Read more